Educational work is a key element for both human capital formation and the promotion of peace and democratic values. It has therefore been identified as one of the priorities of the Stability Pact. The OECD was asked to be Co-ordinator for "General Education Policy and System Change" within the Education and Youth Task Force, and to carry out "Thematic Reviews of Education Policy" in the countries of the region. The main outcome of this project is a series of reports which provide both country overviews and a regional overview. These reports offer an analysis of the education system and address issues and barriers to reform and recommendations. The recommendations are designed to be of use for national policy-makers and to assist Stability Pact partner countries and institutions target regional assistance in order to achieve the goal of supporting South Eastern Europe towards European integration. These reports are part of the OECD’s ongoing co-operation with non-member economies around the world.

The thematic survey of 10 education systems in South Eastern Europe (SEE) shows commonality in the challenges and problems, e.g., low GDP for education, low teacher salaries, child poverty and overloaded curricula, but that there are no common solutions. The regional diversity is too great. The thematic review covered the current status of the system; equity and access issues; early childhood education and care; governance and quality issues. Like in other regions, the education system can be evaluated in terms of four main characteristics: availability, accessibility, acceptability and adaptability. This overview contains basic data and demographics: demographic information on migration, birth rates, ethnic composition of the population, poverty, participation in education, enrolment patterns and number of institutions. Attention is paid to curriculum development, administration and teaching, facilities and equipment, as well as costs and financing of education. The overview quotes the main conclusions from a study carried out by the Centre for Educational Policy Studies (CEPS) in Ljubljana and lists the principal regional recommendations of the OECD examining team...